Are you looking for some language arts games for your homeschool? Well, you’re in the right place. We both know that reading and writing are essential skills. However, it can be really challenging to get them to appreciate that need.
I totally get it.
So, to make language arts concepts and skills more appealing, it’s a good idea to add some fun to your homeschool days. Let’s get to this list of the 9 best language arts games for your homeschool!
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a nominal fee from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. See my disclosure policy for more info.
Skills to Look for in Language Arts Games
When we use the term language arts, what exactly are we talking about?
Language arts as a general category includes the following concepts and skills:
- Phonics
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
- Reading
- Writing
- Language skills
- Categories, associations, inferences, etc.
As I review these board games, I will point out the language arts skills in each game.
10 Best Language Arts Games for Your Homeschool
The following are 10 of the best language arts games for your homeschool. The highlights of each game, age range, and number of players are listed for your convenience.
As always, I recommend focusing on your child’s developmental level when choosing the right language arts games.
I hope this is helpful!
Language Arts Games for Preschoolers and Up
I’ll start with the games that are appropriate for kids as young as preschool age. Of course, always use your judgment.
No one knows your children like you do. These games will focus on various language arts concepts such as:
- Alphabet and Letter Recognition
- Phonological Awareness
- Phonics
- Sight words
- Vocabulary Development
1. Boggle Junior (ages 3+)
- WORD GAME FOR PRESCHOOLERS: It’s a Boggle game for younger kids. This first game for preschoolers…
- MATCH LETTERS AND PICTURES: Kids as young as 3 can play this simple Boggle Jr. game. Players match…
- SPELLING AND MEMORY: In this kids’ version of the popular Boggle word game, players are introduced…
- NO BATTERIES NEEDED: Batteries not needed in this word game that promotes basic letter and word…
- GAME FOR PARENTS TO PLAY WITH THEIR KIDS: Your child wants to have fun. Designed for 1-2 players…
Boggle Junior is a great way to gently introduce preschoolers and other prereaders to phonics, spelling, and reading. By matching letters to picture cards, kids build words (spell) to win the game.
Language Arts Skills in Boggle Junior:
- Spelling
- Phonological Awareness
- Basic phonics
Number of Players: Boggle Junior is played with 1-2 players.
2. Zingo Word Builder (ages 4+)
- Trusted by Families Worldwide – With over 50 million sold, ThinkFun is the world’s leader in brain…
- Develops critical skills – Gameplay provides a stealth learning experience, where players build…
- What you get – Zingo Word Builder is one of ThinkFun’s Enormously popular Zingo products, containing…
- Clear instructions – Easy to learn with a clear, high quality instruction manual. You can start…
- English (Publication Language)
The first language arts game is Zingo Word Builder. This game is great for pre-readers and early readers.
Each play gets a Zingo card filled with 6 CVC words. However, each word is missing letters. The goal is to be the first to fill your card with letter tiles to complete the 6 words.
Language Arts Skills in Zingo:
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
- Phonics
Number of Players: Zingo Word Builder is played with 2-4 players.
Check out this video where Zingo! gameplay is explained.
3. Sight Words Bingo (ages 5+)
- EVERY SHOUT OF “BINGO” IS LEARNING MADE FUN – The game you remember, made even more enjoyable! This…
- A SCHOOL FAVORITE, ALSO GREAT FOR HOME. The unique 2 x 4 grid and 6-way-play format allows everyone…
- RESEARCH BASED, CLASSROOM PROVEN – Words from the “Dolch” & “Fry” most-frequently-used vocabulary…
- VERSATILITY AND VALUE – 36 Bingo cards come in the set – for a family, this game could be played…
- CARDS SUPPORT COMMON STUDENT LEARNING STANDARDS. TREND’s Bingo has been a staple in classrooms for…
If you have a child who likes to play Bingo, this Sight Words Bingo game is a no-brainer. The best part is that it can be used with large groups of kids and families.
Language Arts Skills in Bingo:
- Sight Words
Number of Players: Sight Words Bingo can be played with 3-36 players.
4. Scrabble Junior (ages 5+)
- Letter-matching fun for your little one
- Features cute character tokens for score keeping
- Features cute character tokens for score keeping
- Players create their own words in the advanced level
- Scrabble Junior is letter-matching fun for your little one
Scrabble Junior is a simplified version of the original game. The game board is modified with letters and words already laid out for kids to “fill in” as they play. Kids can feel successful as spellers by matching letters to build words.
Additionally, in Scrabble Junior, each player chooses a fun character-type game piece that earns points for each completed word.
Language Arts Skills in Scrabble Junior:
- Alphabet
- Phonological Awareness
- Spelling
- Reading
Number of Players: Scrabble Junior is played with 2-4 players.
5. Rhyming Splat
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Rhyming Spat is a fun activity to use when teaching kids to rhyme. The ability to rhyme is an essential phonological awareness skill that lays the foundation for reading.
Language Arts Skills in Rhyming Splat:
- Rhyming
- Phonological Awareness
- Reading
Number of Players: Rhyming Splat can be played with up to 6 players.
RELATED POST: 7 Best Play-Based Phonics Tools for Learning at Home
Language Arts Games for Early Elementary & Up
The next several games are appropriate for kids in early elementary through high school.
Get excited because these games are just as fun for homeschool moms too!
6. Scrabble Original (ages 8+)
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The Original Scrabble game is a fantastic game to build your older child’s spelling skills. Further, it’s a classic family game that will appeal to all ages.
Language Arts Skills in Scrabble:
- Spelling
- Word building
- Vocabulary development
- Especially if you use a thesaurus.
Number of Players: Scrabble can be played with 2-4 players.
7. Wordical (ages 8+)
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Wordical is another great word-building game. Instead of a large game board as in Scrabble, the game is compact and uses playing cards.
The game consists of consonant cards and a vowel dice piece. Once rolled, it determines the vowel for that round. Using the consonant cards in your hand, you try to build the word with the highest point value.
Language Arts Skills in Wordical:
- Spelling
- Consonants
- Vowels
- Word Building
- Vocabulary
- Hint. Use that thesaurus.
Number of Players: Wordical can be played with 2-8 players.
Game Modification Idea:
Keep sheets of paper with you while playing word-building games. Have each person keep track of their words during gameplay. This enhances learning in the game and is a way to sneak in fine motor skill practice.
8. Big Boggle (ages 8+)
- BIGGER BOGGLE: Now you can make longer words with a larger 5×5 grid AND you’ve got 3 minutes to do…
- SETUP: Shake, shake, shake the letter cubes, start the timer and let your eyes see what’s right in…
- IT’S FUN AND SIMPLE: Each player searches the letters to make words of FOUR letters or more. When…
- SCORING: Points are tallied based on the length of your word – BUT – if another player has the same…
- HISTORY LESSON: Big Boggle debuted in 1979 as Parker Brothers Bigger Hidden WORD Game, and was…
In Big Boggle, you’ll play to find unique words in a scrambled set of letters.
Language Arts Skills in Big Boggle:
- Spelling
- Reading
- Writing (all words must be written down)
- Vocabulary
- Visual Discrimination
- Bonus math skill: addition
Number of Players: Big Boggle is played with 2 players.
9. Scattergories (age 13+)
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In Scattergories, players come up with words that fit the categories listed on a shared card. The trick is that all the answers need to start with the letter rolled on the die! Players only get points if no other player has the same answer.
Language Arts Skills in Scattergories:
- Spelling
- Reading
- Writing
- Vocabulary
- Categorization
Number of Players: Scattergories can be played with up to 6 players.
10. Taboo 13+
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In Taboo, players try to get teammates to say the word on the card without using any of the forbidden “Taboo” words. If the describer says a Taboo word while giving clues, their team loses a turn.
Players collect cards that they correctly guess. In the end, the team with the most cards wins.
Language Arts Skills in Taboo:
- Vocabulary
- Synonyms
- Categorization
Number of Players: Taboo is played with a minimum of 4 players.
Recap: Language Arts Games for Your Homeschool
As stated earlier, when homeschooling kids, it’s so important to keep students engaged in the learning process.
This is especially true with younger learners (preschool and early elementary) as well as with kids with learning challenges.
Neurodivergent kids (ADHD, Autism, dyslexia, for example), often need extra motivation to push through with harder academic content.
Using games in your homeschool for language arts is a wonderful way to increase your child’s engagement in learning. And you and I both know, when our kids are happy learning, we’re all happier!
So, do you have any favorite language arts games in your homeschool?
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a nominal fee from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. See my disclosure policy for more info.
